Analytics design system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for causing display of a graphical user interface for designing at least one visualization, receiving data defining a first visualization control, receiving a least one data model defining at least one data source related to the first visualization control, and receiving at least one calculation module defining calculation details for the first visualization control. Further, the systems and methods are provided for generating an analytical instance for the at least one visualization comprising the first visualization control, the at least one data model, and the at least one calculation module, and uploading to a server system a specification associated with the analytical instance.

BACKGROUND

Business data comprises a very large amount of data and can bestructured or unstructured. In order to understand hidden patterns orother useful information from such business data, advance visualizationis useful. Advance visualization includes customizable informationgraphics and animations, automated video visualization and interactivedashboards, complex structured visualization formed by multiplevisualization controls, streaming analytics data visualization, and soforth. To generate such advanced visualization, however, takes a skilledsoftware developer to develop a control for a specific business need.Moreover, such a control may not be up to the expectation of a businessuser desiring to use the control who does not have the technical skillsto develop a control or advanced visualization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an analytics designsystem, according to some example embodiments.

FIGS. 3-7 illustrate example graphical user interfaces, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example calculation module,according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example data process applicationprogramming interface (API), according to some example embodiments.

FIGS. 10-11 are flowcharts each illustrating aspects of a method,according to some example embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in theform of a computer system, within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods described herein relate to an analytical designsystem for designing and implementing advanced visualization. Exampleembodiments enable users to create such advanced visualization toaddress their needs quickly without programming. Moreover, exampleembodiments allow for creation of templates to be used by business usersto create the advance visualization. Example embodiments employ asimplified architecture that is scalable with cutting-edge technologies.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system 100 configuredto design, implement, and execute advance visualizations, according tosome example embodiments. The system 100 may include one or more clientdevices such as client device 110. The client device 110 may comprise,but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop,portable digital assistants (PDA), smart phone, tablet, ultrabook,netbook, laptop, multi-processor system, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronic, game console, set-top box, computer ina vehicle, or any other communication device that a user may utilize toaccess the networked system 100. In some embodiments, the client device110 may comprise a display module (not shown) to display information(e.g., in the form of user interfaces). In further embodiments, theclient device 110 may comprise one or more of touch screens,accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, microphones, global positioningsystem (GPS) devices, and so forth. The client device 110 may be adevice of a user that is used to access and utilize cloud services,among other applications.

One or more users 106 may be a person, a machine, or other means ofinteracting with the client device 110. In example embodiments, the user106 may not be part of the system 100 but may interact with the system100 via the client device 110 or other means. For instance, the user 106may provide input (e.g., touch screen input or alphanumeric input) tothe client device 110 and the input may be communicated to otherentities in the system 100 (e.g., third-party servers 130, server system102, etc.) via the network 104. In this instance, the other entities inthe system 100, in response to receiving the input from the user 106,may communicate information to the client device 110 via the network 104to be presented to the user 106. In this way, the user 106 may interactwith the various entities in the system 100 using the client device 110.

The system 100 may further include a network 104. One or more portionsof network 104 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion ofthe public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a WiFi network, a WiMax network, anothertype of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.

The client device 110 may access the various data and applicationsprovided by other entities in the system 100 via web client 112 (e.g., abrowser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed by Microsoft®Corporation of Redmond, Wash. State) or one or more client applications114. The client device 110 may include one or more client applications114 (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, a webbrowser, a messaging application, an electronic mail (email)application, an e-commerce site application, a mapping or locationapplication, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, acustomer relationship management (CRM) application, an analytics designapplication, an application for displaying and interacting with advancevisualizations, and the like.

In some embodiments, one or more client applications 114 may be includedin a given one of the client device 110, and configured to locallyprovide the user interface and at least some of the functionalities,with the client application 114 configured to communicate with otherentities in the system 100 (e.g., third-party servers 130, server system102, etc.), on an as-needed basis, for data and/or processingcapabilities not locally available (e.g., access location information,access software version information, access an ERP system, access a CRMsystem, access an analytics design system, to authenticate a user 106,to verify a method of payment, etc.). Conversely, one or moreapplications 114 may not be included in the client device 110, and thenthe client device 110 may use its web browser to access the one or moreapplications hosted on other entities in the system 100 (e.g.,third-party servers 130, server system 102, etc.).

A server system 102 may provide server-side functionality via thenetwork 104 (e.g., the Internet or wide area network (WAN)) to one ormore third-party servers 130 and/or one or more client devices 110. Theserver system 102 may include an application program interface (API)server 120, a web server 122, and analytics design system 124 that maybe communicatively coupled with one or more databases 126.

The one or more databases 126 may be storage devices that store datarelated to users of the system 100, applications associated with thesystem 100, cloud services, and so forth. The one or more databases 126may further store information related to third-party servers 130,third-party applications 132, client devices 110, client applications114, users 106, and so forth. In one example, the one or more databases126 may be cloud-based storage.

The server system 102 may be a cloud computing environment, according tosome example embodiments. The server system 102, and any serversassociated with the server system 102, may be associated with acloud-based application, in one example embodiment.

The analytics design system 124 may provide back-end support forthird-party applications 132 and client applications 114, which mayinclude cloud-based applications. The analytics design system 124processes requests for designing, implementing, and executing advancevisualizations, and so forth, as described in further detail below. Theanalytics design system 124 may comprise one or more servers or othercomputing devices or systems.

The system 100 may further include one or more third-party servers 130.The one or more third-party servers 130 may include one or morethird-party application(s) 132. The one or more third-partyapplication(s) 132, executing on third-party server(s) 130, may interactwith the server system 102 via API server 120 via a programmaticinterface provided by the API server 120. For example, one or more thethird-party applications 132 may request and utilize information fromthe server system 102 via the API server 120 to support one or morefeatures or functions on a website hosted by the third party or anapplication hosted by the third party. The third-party website orapplication 132, for example, may provide analytics design and viewingfunctionality that is supported by relevant functionality and data inthe server system 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of an analytics designplatform 200, according to some example embodiments. The analyticsdesign platform 200 includes an analytical design time system 204, ananalytical runtime system 202, one or more data sources 206, and ananalytical kit content delivery network (CDN) 208. In one example, theanalytical runtime system 202 and analytical design time system 204reside on one or more front end systems (e.g., client devices 110 orsystems associated with client devices 110) and the data sources 206 andanalytical kit CDN 208 reside on one or more backend systems (e.g.,third-party server(s) 130, server system 102, etc.).

The analytical design time system 204 is used for extending analyticalsolutions for visualization and computation without further programmingand allows a business user to define workflows with the help of agraphical user interface (GUI). This system eliminates the necessity ofa software developer for enhancements of analytical visualization andcomputations. The analytical design time system 204 further allows users(e.g., more savvy business users or software developers) to generatetemplates to be used by business users to generate analyticalvisualization (e.g., advances visualizations)). Accordingly, theanalytical design time system 204 may be used to either create ananalytical instance from predefined templates (e.g., create/design avisualization from a predefined template) or generate new templates thatcan be used as future predefined templates.

The GUI for creating controls 210 provides tools for a user to createone or more visualization controls for a visualization. The GUI forcreating controls 210 (also “GUI 210”) will help a business user createa visualization control without any kind of programming. In one example,the output of the GUI 210 while creating a visualization control is aJSON-based specification that can be uploaded for referencing internallywithin an organization, or it can be published publicly for globalaccess of a visualization control (e.g., as a template).

The GUI for creating a data source 212 provides tools for a user to linkone or more data sources 206 that will provide data for thevisualization and/or the calculation module. The GUI for creating acalculation module 214 provides tools for a user to define thecalculations for the visualization. For example, a user can definemerging two datasets, joining different data, aggregating data,inputting a script (e.g., JavaScript) for more complex calculations, andso forth. In one example, one or more calculation modules or units maybe defined. A calculation module can take data from another calculationmodule or from a data model. A data model can store an output from oneor more calculation modules.

The GUI for creating analytical instances 216 generates an executableentity for the visualization. For example, an analytical instance is anexecutable unit which includes visualization controls, data processingmodules, calculation modules and other dependent resources. Theanalytical instance can be executed in a browser or hybrid mobileapplication to generate an analytical visualization, animation, orvideo. This is beneficial since a user can just use a mobile or otherdevice (e.g., client device 110) to design a visualization or run avisualization, without any need for a high-end server. In one example,the definition of the analytical instance is serializable to store as anentity and it will be de-serialized and executed in a web session. Theoutput of an analytical instance execution is a series of HTML contentupdated based on the configured frequency in the parent container of theanalytical instance.

The analytical instance (e.g., one JSON structure) is stored as aspecification and can be uploaded or retrieved via the specificationupload/retrieval module 218. The template upload/retrieval module 220allows a user to upload a newly designed template or retrieve apredefined template to and from a server system (e.g., server system 102or analytics design system 124).

Most of the entities of a visualization are defined by specification,which helps to customize and extend the visualization and thecomputation according to the business need. The entities that can bedefined by specifications include visualization controls (predefined oruser defined), data model (e.g., structured, unstructured, derived) anddata connectivity, events, interactivity, calculation process, andanalytical instance (complete executable entity that contains all of theabove entities). A visualization control is a viewable entity. In oneexample a visualization control is a scalable vector graphics (SVG), aHTML5 visualization, or a hybrid visualization. A hybrid visualizationcan be defined by HTML5 controls, other HTML5 visualizations, and SVGvisualizations.

In one example, a visualization control is composed of multiple granularvisual elements. Each element could be a simple shape like a line, arectangle, or a circle, or each element could be a complex element suchas an image, SVG content, or HTML control. Visualization controlincludes interactive controls such as a button, a slider, or text inputfields. Interactivity could be a simple button click, type text input, amoving of a slider, or transformation (rotate, resize, move) of a SVGcontent/image, and so forth. Attributes of the visualization controls,which define dimension of control and other visual aspects, can bedefined as formulas based on the data model. In one example,visualization can be configured and controlled based on CSS styles,which gives more flexibility to customize the visualization.

FIG. 3 illustrates a visualization example 300. The visualizationexample 300 is an example of a hybrid visualization which consists ofmultiple visualizations 302-348. For example, a first visualization inthe visual example 300 is a carousel control 302, as shown alone as thecarousel control 400 in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the example carousel control400 comprises a background image 402, a horizontal stack 404, a leftarrow 406 and a right arrow 408 for navigation, and number placeholders410 and 412 for remaining left and right items. The specification forthis example carousel control 400 is as follows:

{  Name: “carousel control”,  type: “HTML5”,  content: {   [    {    refid : background     type : image,     url : t{{img_path}}     css: {      position : absolute,      top : 0,      left : 0,      right :0,      bottom : 0     }    },    {     refid : horz_stack,     type :horz_array,     items : [ ],     size : 0,     offset : 0,     visiblecount : 0,     css : {      position : absolute,      top : 0,      left: 0,      right : 0,      bottom : 0,      display : flex,     flex-direction: row     }    },    {     refid : left_arrow,    type : image,     css : {      position : absolute,      top : 50%,     left : 10px,      width : 20px,      height : 20px     }    },    {    refid : right_arrow,     type : image,     css : {      position :absolute,      top : 50%,      right : 10px,      width : 20px,     height : 20px     }    },    {     refid : left items,     type :text,     css : {      position : absolute,      top : 10px,      right: 10px,      width : 20px,      height : 20px     }    },    {     refid: right_items,     type : text,     css : {      position : absolute,     top : 10px,      right : 10px,      width : 20px,      height :20px     }    {   ]  },  attributes :  [   {    attr_id : size,    refid: horz_.stack,    path : /size,   },   {    attr_id : item_pos,    refid: horz_.stack,    path : /items/index/left   },   {    attr_id : offset,   refid : horz_.stack,    path : /offset,   },   {    attr_id :visible_.coun ,    refid : horz stack,    path : /visible_count,   }  ]}

Other example visualizations in visualization example 300 includeexample visualizations, such as 502-510, shown in FIG. 5. Thevisualization 502 is an image holder for a product. For example, a usercan drag and drop an image to include for the visualization 502, providea data source for the image, and so forth.

Visualization 504 is a visualization (e.g., SVG visualization) for agradient fill. A specification for this example gradient fill is asfollows:

{  Name: “gradient_fill”,  type: “SVG”,  content: {  <svgxmlns:dc=\“http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\”xtmlns:cc=\“http://creativecommons.org/ns#\”xmlns:rdf=\“http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#\”xmlns:svg=\“http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\”xmlns=\“http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\”xmlns:sodipodi=\“http://sodipodi.sourceforge.net/DTD/sodipodi-0,dtd\”width=\.“210mm\” height=\“297mm\” viewBox=\“0 0 210 297\”version=\“1.1\” id\“svg8\” sodipodi:docname=\“gradientfill.svg\”><metadata id==\“metadata5\”> </metadata> <g id=\“layer1\”> <rectid=\“rect3680\” width=\“151.94643\” height=\“36.852676\” x=\“32.505951\” y=\“111.79166\” style=\“stroke- width:0.26458332;fill:{{backcolor}}A” ry=\“18.426338\” rx=\“22.300602\” /> <pathstyle=\“fill.:{{forecolor}}; stroke:#000000;stroke-width:0.26458332px;stroke- linecap:butt;stroke-linejoin:miter;stroke-opacity: 1\” d=\“m117.55059,147.88839 c 0.18899,−36.28571 0.18899,−36.285710.18899,−36.285711 −65.578866,0.18898 − 6,803572,2,26786−8,693452,5,10268 −4,157739,8,12649 0,755954,8,31547 6.236605,7.370549.827382,4.91369 14.741072,0.37798 34.58482,−0.18899 .z\”id=\“path3699\” /> </g> </svg>”  },  attributes :  [   {    attr_id :fill_percentage,    path : fill_percentage,   },   {    attr_id :backcolor,    path : backcolor   },   {    attr_id : forecolor.    path: forecolor   }  ] }

Other visualization controls can be defined with similar specifications,in other example embodiments.

Visualization 506 is a horizontal stack for holding four types ofimages, and visualization 508 is a collection of multiple images withabsolute position. Visualization 510 is a horizontal bar 512 with a topindicator 514 and bottom indicator 516 and a three box container 518with a label and value.

The overall visualization of FIG. 3 can be defined by referencing all ofthe sub controls, as shown in the following example:

{  Name: “automobile analysis”,  type: “Hybrid”,  content: {   [    {    refid : am_carousel     type : control,     url :/webapp1/controls/carousel_control,     consumption : render,     css :{      position : absolute,      top : 0,      left : 0,      right : 0,     bottom : 0     },     inputs : {      items : {       delegate_ref: @product_list      }     }    },    {     refid : product_list    type : array,     datatype : @producy_item,     consumption :dependency,    },    {     refid : product_item,     type : Hybrid,    consumption : dependency,     content : [      {        refid :thumbnail        type : image,        url : {{<cur_index>/img_path}},       consumption : render,        css : {         position : absolute,        top : 0,         left : 0,         right : 0,         height :100px        }       },       {        refid : gradientfill        type: Control,        url : /webapp1/controls/gradient_fill,       consumption : render,        css : {         position : absolute,        top : 110px,         left : 0,         right : 0,         height: 50px        }       },       {        refid : seating_capacity       type : Control,        url : webapp1/controls/seating_capacity,       consumption : render,        css : {         position : absolute,        top : 170px,         left : 0,         right : 0,         height: 100px        }       },       {        refid : luggage_capacity       type : Control,        url : /webapp1/controls/luggage_capacity,       consumption : render,        css : {         position : absolute,        top : 280px,         left : 0,         right : 0,         height: 100px        }       },       {        refid : space_comfort,       type : Control,        url : /webapp1/controls/space_comfort,       consumption : render,        css : {         position : absolute,        top : 390px,         left : 0,         right : 0,         height: 100px       }      },       {        refid : social_network_review,       type : Control,        url :/webapp1/controls/like_dislike_frame,        consumption : render,       css : {         position : absolute,         top : 390px,        left : 0,         right : 0,         height : 100px       }     }     ]    }   ]  } }

Returning to FIG. 2, the analytics design platform 200 further includesan analytical runtime system 202. The analytical runtime system 202allows a user to access and view a visualization (e.g., one or moreanalytical instances). The visualization component 222 provides fordisplay of one or more visualizations. Multiple visualizations (e.g.,visualization controls) may be connected and displayed. Thespecification fetch module 232 retrieves (e.g., from one or moredatabases 126 or other data sources 206) one or more specifications tobe loaded by the visualization component 222. As explained above, aspecification may define several entities, such as visualizationcontrols, data models and data connectivity, events, interactivity,calculation processes (e.g., calculation units), and an analyticalinstance.

In one embodiment, analytical computation is defined and executed at aweb client layer. The data for the visualization may be retrieved(fetched) from the web server layer through various technologies, suchas Restful Webservices and Odata Protocol. The web server, as part ofthe analytical system 200, is a pluggable interface that can be extendedin any product's backend layers to get the business data, which can bestructured or unstructured data. Set, predefined APIs can help get thereal-time data for the client analytical computations.

The calculation engine 224 is responsible for performing calculationsfor the one or more visualizations (e.g., using one or more calculationmodules or units). For example, the calculation engine 224 isresponsible for executing analytical operations by applying mathematicalcalculation, aggregating, filtering, and so forth, on one or more datamodels to generate or update data models. The calculation engine 224 isresponsible for state management of data models and for keeping track ofhistory for the defined scope. The scope of a history of data modelchange will be either based on a count of data model changes or based ona defined period. The calculation engine 224 is a system which executescalculation units.

In one example, calculation logic can be defined by JavaScriptprogramming. Some core calculation logics may be predefined and shippedwith an analytical kit product (e.g., comprising the analytical designtime system 204 and the analytical runtime system 202). Any authorizeduser who has programming knowledge can innovate new calculation logicfor a business' needs and use it within their organization, or the logiccan be uploaded into an analytical kit cloud (after the securityscanning of the logic), and it can be published to make it available foreveryone who uses the analytical kit. This enables the public to enhancethe analytical operations and share them with other members of thepublic.

In one example, a newly created calculation logic will be enclosed by anapproved template of a JavaScript function, and it will be scanned,serialized, and stored in a backend server system (e.g., server system102, analytics design system 124) for further consumption of the logicin the analytical instances. When a calculation logic needs to beexecuted, the function will be fetched from the server system (e.g.,from one or more database(s) 126), deserialized as a function object,and then executed.

According to a business user's need, the calculation logic can beexecuted in the browser engine as a client-side execution, or it can beexecuted at the web server layer (e.g., introducing node.js as amiddleware which can execute the calculation logic JavaScript). Fordefining a calculation logic, there will be delegate methods for adataset processing, which could be implemented according to thebusiness' needs. In one example, a delegate includes the following:

-   -   1. Data set level delegate for writing logic at a dataset level    -   2. Row level delegate to define logic for a complete row    -   3. Cell level delegate to define logic for a specific cell data

The following is an example to better illustrate the calculation engine224. In this example a business' needs include a simulated visualizationfor monitoring all of a city's traffic signals in real time, in which isneeded a simulation to control the traffic with quick predictiveanalytics. Example requirements include the following:

-   -   All traffic signals of a city need to be monitored    -   An application user should be alerted when one or more traffic        signal in a specific area is filled with a traffic jam (e.g.,        those areas or traffic signals may be highlighted to alert the        application user)    -   Automatic tuning of the traffic green signal timings on the        highlighted signals to control the traffic for keeping different        timing on each direction. This may include simulating how the        situation will be handled better (e.g., with different timing on        traffic signals) and identifying a shortest time to bring the        traffic to a normal state (e.g., without traffic jams).        For this example, more complex calculations are needed and        real-time data needs preprocessing before inputting into the        analytical calculation.

FIG. 6 is an example map 600 showing ten traffic signals (S1, S2 . . . ,S10) and multiple routes, such as A-S1-D-S6-G-S8-G-S9-P andB-S1-C-S2-I-S4-J-S5-L-S10-M. Traffic movement on each route will vary.For example, some routes may be heavy, some may be medium, and some maybe light. For a single route there are multiple signals, differentlengths and widths of the road, and a different frequency of vehiclemovement.

The traffic, however, can be balanced if the green signal timing on eachdirection of a signal is defined based on the traffic load on a singledirection. As there are multiple factors to decide the timing of eachgreen signal (e.g., in this simple example there are around 32 greensignals), manual calculation will be complex, and cannot be done in realtime. Thus, in one example embodiment a visualization control with a geomap can be defined for monitoring all traffic signals of a given regionor city. The application user receives an alert about a heavy traffic,for example, the heavy traffic jam at the signals S1, S2, S4, and S5.The user may select the four signals and select an action “Auto-tuningof green signals.” The calculation module, which in this example iscalled “auto-tuning of green signals,” can be defined with the followingsteps:

-   -   1. Identify heavy traffic routes    -   2. Assign an increased time for the green signals of the routes    -   3. Simulate how the traffic will be improved and record the        output    -   4. Iterate steps 1-3 with different time tunings of signals        combination    -   5. Pick the best output from the iterations.    -   6. Apply timing of the best output to those green signals    -   7. Once the traffic reaches to normal state, remove auto-tuning,        switch to the default time of green signal (e.g., which may be        an equal time in all directions).

This auto-tuning process starts with collecting data from a real-timeexternal application which provides each route's heaviness of traffic,involved roads and signals, and the sequence of road and signals of aroute. The data fetch is done by calling a Data Processing API. The DataProcessing API takes a list of signals as input and provides routesinvolved, with heaviness, as output. In this calculation process, thereare multiple calculation units that are working together to get thedesired output. Some example calculations units include:

-   -   1. A calculation unit for getting a traffic load for each of the        green signals and the timings for each signal, and calculating        the traffic flow on each route.    -   2. A calculation unit for initiating multiple first units (above        mentioned) in an asynchronous manner and choosing a best one        among the traffic flow results.    -   3. A calculation unit for providing a suggestion of time tunings        for each green signal, based on the best one chosen among the        traffic flow results, which will be passed to the second unit.

These calculation units seem specific to this specific use case, but, ingeneral, these calculation units can be a generic utility to be reusedfor various business use cases. In one example, a calculation unit willbe a user defined (or predefined) JavaScript function and multiple suchcalculation units can be combined to define a calculation process. Thecalculation process will be represented as a specification and it willbe used by various visualizations.

According to the business need, the calculation process can be executedin client side (e.g., browser, hybrid app) or it can be executed on theserver layer (e.g., node.js). The GUI for creating a calculation module214 (also referred to as “GUI 214”) is used to define a calculation unit(e.g., by entering JavaScript code). In one example, the GUI 214 willprovide an option to connect multiple calculation units to define acalculation module. FIG. 7 shows an example GUI 700 for a user to entera script (e.g., JavaScript code).

Once the user enters the script, the script will be scanned for securityaspects while saving the calculation unit. In one example, the script isstored as string content in the server system. The script content willbe sent to the client for execution. At the client side, this stringcontent will be converted to a function and executed according to theworkflow defined in the calculation module (e.g., via calculation engine224). For example:

var fnScript=new Function(‘args’, ‘<script content>’); // converted tofunction

var result=fnScript(args); //execution of the script, whenever it isrequired.

For this example, the following is assumed:

calculation unit 1 is <calcunit-get-traffic-load>

calculation unit 2 is <calcunit-check-traffic-flow>

calculation unit 3 is <calcunit-get-timing-schedule>

Script content for <calcunit-get-traffic-load> is<script-get-traffic-load>

Script content for <calcunit-check-traffic-flow> is<script-check-traffic-flow>

Script content for <calcunit-get-timing-schedule> is<script-get-timing-schedule>

This example calculation module is defined as shown in FIG. 8.

Then this calculation module can be invoked from a visualization controlevent, from another calculation module, or from a data processing moduleas a callback function once the latest dataset is received or processed.

Returning to FIG. 2, the data model 226 stores data output by thecalculation engine 224 and other data needed for the one or morevisualizations that can be retrieved via the data connectivity module230. For example, the data connectivity module 230 is responsible forfetching data from a backend system and feeding the data to avisualization control (e.g., via visualization component 222). The datamodel 226 represents the structure of a particular business data. A datamodel 226 is formed by fetching the data from the server and it will bemodified by the calculation engine 224 according to an analyticaldefinition.

In one example, a data processing module (not shown) is a sub-module ofthe data connectivity module 230 and is responsible for processing dataaccording to a data processing API definition. The data processing APIis defined by one or more data processing units, which will be executedby taking one or more datasets as input and will generate an outputdataset after processing the one or more datasets. A data processingunit is a simple processing of one or more datasets. The following aresome examples of a data processing unit:

-   -   Fetching data from a data source, which could be a web response,        file set, dataset from another processing unit, and the like    -   Merging two or more datasets    -   Filtering datasets    -   Customizing datasets with specific fields    -   Generating a new data field using a formula based on existing        data fields    -   Cross table to flat table conversion and vice versa

The data processing API will be represented with a specification, whichincludes a data input specification, processing units with sequence, anda data output specification. FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating theprocess of a data processing API 902 when merging two datasets, as oneexample (e.g., any kind of operation on data can be performed by a dataprocessing API). The data processing API 902 can be invoked from avisualization control's life cycle and user interactivity on thevisualization control. The invocation of the API from visualizationcontrol is defined in the GUI for creating (visualization) controls 210.

For example, to define a data processing API (e.g., API 902) using apredefined data processing unit, a user can use a GUI in which an APIcan be defined by simply dragging and dropping actions andconfiguration. Some actions may comprise events and interactivity. Inone example, an event can be one of the following actions:

-   -   A state change in a visualization control lifecycle such as        initialization of visualization control, loading/unloading event        of UI elements, and an update in UI elements after the        completion of a data processing API execution    -   An interval-based update on a visual element that can automate        the visualization for a video or animation that can show        real-time analytical insights    -   An action or navigation triggered based on the user        interactivity on the visualization control    -   A change in a data model based on the streaming data defined in        the data connectivity    -   Web UI to control specific events such as text changes, button        click, selecting a check box, URL navigation, drag and drop,        resize, and so forth.

User interactivity, such as mouse clicks and touch gestures, on thevisualization control will be associated to an event according to thebusiness' need, which can be customized for each control in a differentway to support analytical use cases. User interactivity examples includemouse clicks (single or double), mouse drag and drop, tap (single,double, multiple), swipe (up, left, right, down), long press, and thelike.

Streaming listeners 228 may be utilized to regularly update specificdata in one or more visualizations. In example embodiments, achievingstreaming analytics visualization is much easier. For example, avisualization can be updated with a series of HTML or periodic updatesof existing HTML through JavaScript. The update can be applied in thecomplete visualization control or sub-components of a visualizationcontrol. Some examples of the updates are periodic resize of visualcomponents, periodic sorting/ordering of elements, periodic update ofposition of elements, and so forth.

The analytics design platform 200 may further comprise access to one ormore data sources 206, for example on one or more backend server orother computing systems. Example data sources 206 include one or moredatabases (e.g., database 126 associated with server system 102),product backend data, data comprising one or pluggable analytical kitmodules 236, user defined analytical instances/controls 238, and soforth. The data sources 206 may be internal to a particularorganization, external data sources, or a combination of internal andexternal data sources. The analytics design platform 200 may furthercomprise an analytical kit content delivery network (CDN) 208 thatcomprises predefined analytical instances templates 240 and predefinedcontrols templates 242.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of a method 1000 fordesigning a visualization, according to some example embodiments. Forillustrative purposes, method 1000 is described with respect to thenetworked system 100 of FIG. 1 and the example block diagram in FIG. 2.It is to be understood that method 1000 may be practiced with othersystem configurations in other embodiments.

As described above, a user may use a GUI for designing a visualizationto either design a visualization from a predefined template of aplurality of predefined templates or a user may design a visualizationwithout a predefined template that may then be stored and used by otherusers as a predefined template. In the first case, a computing system ordevice (e.g., client device 110) displays a GUI with options foravailable predefined templates from which the user may choose one ormore predefined templates to use to design a visualization, in oneexample. In another example, the user may already know a location orname of a predefined template and input the location (e.g., URL or othermeans), or name (e.g., unique name or identifier) to request thepredefined templated. The computing device then retrieves the requestedpredefined templates and displays a GUI for designing a visualizationusing the template. The predefined template may comprise at least onevisualization control, data model, and calculation module.

In the second case, a user may want to design a visualization without apredefined template. In this case the computing device does not need toretrieve any predefined template and can display the GUI for designingthe visualization.

Accordingly, in operation 1002, a computing device causes display of aGUI for designing a visualization. Using the GUI, the user is able todefine one or more visualization controls, data models, and calculationsmodules.

In operation 1004, the computing device receives data defining a firstvisualization control. As explained above, a visualization control is aviewable entity. In one example, a visualization control is comprised ofmultiple granular visual elements, such as a line, a rectangle, acircle, an image, SVG content, HTML control, and so forth. Visualizationcontrol can also comprise interactive controls, as explained above. Someexample visualization controls are shown in FIG. 5, as explained above.A user may select a predefined visual control of a plurality ofpredefined visual controls as part of a predetermined template, or auser may create his or her own visual control. Examples of a predefinedvisual control include image(s), button(s), input field(s), shape(s),container(s), and so forth. A user may create more than one visualcontrol for the visualization.

The data may be received from the user via the GUI by entering textinformation (e.g., defining position, size, any dynamic properties, andso forth), selecting one or more data from the GUI (e.g., dragging anddropping a predefined visual element or control into the GUI for thevisualization), and so forth. The data defining the first visualizationcontrol may include one or more visual elements. The user may define oneor more visualization controls (e.g., comprising one or more visualelements) for the visualization. In one example, when a predefinedvisual control is selected (e.g., dragged and dropped into thevisualization design or selected to appear in the visualization design),a (predefined) specification of the predefined visual control isembedded into the visual control along with any user inputs forposition, size, any dynamic properties, and so forth.

In operation 1006, the computing device receives a data model definingat least one data source related to the visualization control. Forexample, using the GUI, the user can define one or more data models.

In one example, a visual control can have zero, one, or more datamodels. For example, a visual control can be a simple entity, withoutany data model, such as a visual control for displaying a current timeas a clock, which does not need any data for a data source but can bedefined by a predefined formula/API. The predefined formula/API can beprocessed and generated by the system 204 directly or the data can beretrieved from a calculation module, which may originate the data usingsome programming, script, external URL, devices such as a camera or mic,and so forth.

As described above, a data model defines the data and data sources forthe visual control and visualization. The GUI will allow the user tolink one or more data sources that will provide data for thevisualization. For example, the user may specify what data is necessaryfor each element of the visualization and what data sources should beused to obtain the data (e.g., a URL or other location information ofthe data and data source).

In one example, if a user has created a template, the user can specify adata source endpoint. The template will be used by other users to createa data processing API. Or, if a user is directly creating a dataprocessing API, he or she can provide the data source informationdirectly. A visual control or calculation unit can use the data sourceAPI for accessing the data.

The computing device then generates the data model using the informationfrom the user comprising the data and the data sources. In one example,the data model is data with specific structure stored in memory, whichwill be used by a visual control or calculation unit. In one example, adata model consists of metadata (e.g., the structure of the data and theactual data).

In operation 1008, the computing device receives at least onecalculation module defining calculation details for the visualizationcontrol. For example, a user may use tools provided in the GUI fordefining calculations for the visualization. As explained above, examplecalculations include merging two datasets, joining different data,aggregating data, and so forth, or the tools may allow the user to inputa script for more complex calculations (or import a script or otherwisedefine more complex calculations). If a user is using a predefinedtemplate, these calculations may be predefined; the user just needs toselect which calculation(s) he desires to use in the visualization. Auser may also define new calculations that are not part of thepredefined template. A user not using a predefined template may stillaccess predefined calculations and also (or only) define newcalculations. Calculations details may be provided by the user byselecting predefined calculations, inputting new calculations, and thelike. The calculations can use data from other calculations modules orprovide output to be used in other calculation modules.

In operation 1010, the computing device generates an analytical instancefor the visualization. The analytical instance comprises at least onevisualization control, at least one data model, and at least onecalculation module. For example, from the visualization control(s), datamodel(s), and calculation module(s) defined by the user, the computingdevice generates an executable object or unit that comprises thevisualization control(s), data model(s), and calculation module(s)defined by the user. This analytical instance can be executed in abrowser or application (e.g., hybrid mobile application) to view andinteract with the visualization.

In operation 1012, the computing device uploads a specificationassociated with the analytical instance to a server system. In oneexample, the analytical instance is stored as a specification definingthe details of the visualization (e.g., comprising the analyticalinstance, data model(s), calculation unit(s), and so forth). Theanalytical instance can be a visualization to be executed on a clientdevice 110 or can be stored as a predefined template to be used by othercomputing devices to design the visualization. The predefined templateis just like an analytical instance in format, but has placeholders forsome values which will be defined while using the template foranalytical instance creation (e.g., using the analytical design timesystem 204).

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of a method 1100 forexecuting an analytical instance to display a visualization, accordingto some example embodiments. For illustrative purposes, method 1100 isdescribed with respect to the networked system 100 of FIG. 1 and theexample block diagram in FIG. 2. It is to be understood that method 1100may be practiced with other system configurations in other embodiments.

In operation 1102, a computing device (e.g., client device 110)retrieves an analytical instance to be executed on the computing system.For example, a user may request to view a particular visualization(e.g., via a GUI) and the computing system retrieves the analyticalinstance associated with the particular visualization.

The computing device then executes the analytical instance to cause thevisualization to display. In one example, executing the analyticalinstance comprises operations 1104-1112. In operation 1104, thecomputing device retrieves data for each visualization control in thevisualization. For example, the computing device analyzes the data modelfor the analytical instance to determine what data from which datasources are needed for the visualization. The computing device uses theinformation from the data model to fetch all of the data and store it inthe data model, as shown in operation 1106.

In operation 1108, the computing device performs the calculation detailsfor each visualization control of the visualization. For example, thecomputing device analyzes the calculation module to determine thecalculation details (e.g., what calculations to perform) and performsthe calculation details (e.g., performs the calculations). In oneexample, the computing system uses the data in the data model to performthe calculation details. The computing device stores an output for theperformed calculation details as additional data in the data model, asshown in operation 1110.

In operation 1112, the computing device generates the visualizationusing data specified in each visualization control of the visualization,and data stored in the data model. For example, the computing devicegenerates the visualization using data from the data model(s), whichwill be referred as a formula or metadata reference in one or morevisual controls, that will be derived to get the needed data for thevisualization.

In operation 1114, the computing device causes the visualization todisplay to the user. The user may interact with the visualization, whichwill cause the visualization to change or update, according to thedefined visualization control(s).

Example embodiments provide for a number of benefits. For instance,example embodiments simplify the process of defining and customizinganalytical solutions for business needs. Also, example embodimentsprovide the flexibility of running end-to-end workflows within a clientlayer, by taking only the data set (which can be a structured orunstructured data, processed or unprocessed data, etc.). Sinceend-to-end workflow runs on a web client layer, in one exampleembodiment, it will work on all desktop and mobile operating system(e.g., Windows, Mac, Android, iOS). Moreover, a business user can defineany complex visualizations without any programming knowledge.Furthermore, the entities, such as visualization control, dataprocessing units/modules, and calculation units/modules, can be sharedas a public resource for the benefit of others. This enables more peopleto contribute and use solutions.

Other benefits include that client-side execution of analyticscalculations makes it easier to include external data and input fromexternal devices such as a camera, sensors, electronics devices, and thelike. Example embodiments create a simplified and highly customizableapproach since all the entities are represented as a specification, andthe specification will be parsed and executed by a corresponding moduleengine to achieve variants of a functionality. This approach enables theanalytics mingled with business processing by incorporating machinelearning techniques and for executing automated best course of action.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram 1200 illustrating software architecture 1202,which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedabove. For example, in various embodiments, client devices 110 andservers and systems 130, 102, 120, 122, and 124 may be implemented usingsome or all of the elements of software architecture 1202. FIG. 12 ismerely a non-limiting example of a software architecture, and it will beappreciated that many other architectures can be implemented tofacilitate the functionality described herein. In various embodiments,the software architecture 1202 is implemented by hardware such asmachine 1300 of FIG. 13 that includes processors 1310, memory 1330, andI/O components 1350. In this example, the software architecture 1202 canbe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide aparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 1202includes layers such as an operating system 1204, libraries 1206,frameworks 1208, and applications 1210. Operationally, the applications1210 invoke application programming interface (API) calls 1212 throughthe software stack and receive messages 1214 in response to the APIcalls 1212, consistent with some embodiments.

In various implementations, the operating system 1204 manages hardwareresources and provides common services. The operating system 1204includes, for example, a kernel 1220, services 1222, and drivers 1224.The kernel 1220 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware andthe other software layers, consistent with some embodiments. Forexample, the kernel 1220 provides memory management, processormanagement (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, andsecurity settings, among other functionality. The services 1222 canprovide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers1224 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware, according to some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 1224can include display drivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH®Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the libraries 1206 provide a low-level commoninfrastructure utilized by the applications 1210. The libraries 1206 caninclude system libraries 1230 (e.g., C standard library) that canprovide functions such as memory allocation functions, stringmanipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition,the libraries 1206 can include API libraries 1232 such as medialibraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation ofvarious media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4),Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts GroupLayer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or PortableNetwork Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL frameworkused to render in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D)graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite toprovide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 1206 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 1234to provide many other APIs to the applications 1210.

The frameworks 1208 provide a high-level common infrastructure that canbe utilized by the applications 1210, according to some embodiments. Forexample, the frameworks 1208 provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks 1208 can provide a broad spectrumof other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 1210, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system 1204 or platform.

In an example embodiment, the applications 1210 include a homeapplication 1250, a contacts application 1252, a browser application1254, a book reader application 1256, a location application 1258, amedia application 1260, a messaging application 1262, a game application1264, and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third-partyapplication 1266. According to some embodiments, the applications 1210are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Variousprogramming languages can be employed to create one or more of theapplications 1210, structured in a variety of manners, such asobject-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++)or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In aspecific example, the third-party application 1266 (e.g., an applicationdeveloped using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) byan entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may bemobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™,ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In thisexample, the third-party application 1266 can invoke the API calls 1212provided by the operating system 1204 to facilitate functionalitydescribed herein.

Some embodiments may particularly include analytics design application1267. In certain embodiments, this may be a stand-alone application thatoperates to manage communications with a server system such asthird-party servers 130 or server system 102. In other embodiments, thisfunctionality may be integrated with another application. The analyticsdesign application 1267 may request and display various data related todesigning and viewing analytics and may provide the capability for auser 106 to input data related to the objects via a touch interface,keyboard, or using a camera device of machine 1300, communication with aserver system via I/O components 1350, and receipt and storage of objectdata in memory 1330. Presentation of information and user inputsassociated with the information may be managed by analytics designapplication 1267 using different frameworks 1208, library 1206 elements,or operating system 1204 elements operating on a machine 1300.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1300,according to some embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1300 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1316 (e.g., software, a program, an application 1210, an applet, an app,or other executable code) for causing the machine 1300 to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein can be executed. Inalternative embodiments, the machine 1300 operates as a standalonedevice or can be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In anetworked deployment, the machine 1300 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine 130, 102, 120, 122, 124, etc., or a client device 110 ina server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 1300 cancomprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a personal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 1316, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by the machine 1300. Further, while only a single machine 1300 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines 1300 that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 1316 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

In various embodiments, the machine 1300 comprises processors 1310,memory 1330, and I/O components 1350, which can be configured tocommunicate with each other via a bus 1302. In an example embodiment,the processors 1310 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor,or any suitable combination thereof) include, for example, a processor1312 and a processor 1314 that may execute the instructions 1316. Theterm “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 1310 thatmay comprise two or more independent processors 1312, 1314 (alsoreferred to as “cores”) that can execute instructions 1316contemporaneously. Although FIG. 13 shows multiple processors 1310, themachine 1300 may include a single processor 1310 with a single core, asingle processor 1310 with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor1310), multiple processors 1312, 1314 with a single core, multipleprocessors 1312, 1314 with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 1330 comprises a main memory 1332, a static memory 1334, anda storage unit 1336 accessible to the processors 1310 via the bus 1302,according to some embodiments. The storage unit 1336 can include amachine-readable medium 1338 on which are stored the instructions 1316embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 1316 can also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1332, within the static memory 1334,within at least one of the processors 1310 (e.g., within the processor'scache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during executionthereof by the machine 1300. Accordingly, in various embodiments, themain memory 1332, the static memory 1334, and the processors 1310 areconsidered machine-readable media 1338.

As used herein, the term “memory” refers to a machine-readable medium1338 able to store data temporarily or permanently and may be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. While themachine-readable medium 1338 is shown, in an example embodiment, to be asingle medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken toinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to storethe instructions 1316. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also betaken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that iscapable of storing instructions (e.g., instructions 1316) for executionby a machine (e.g., machine 1300), such that the instructions 1316, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the machine 1300 (e.g., processors1310), cause the machine 1300 to perform any one or more of themethodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium”refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based”storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storageapparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, one or more datarepositories in the form of a solid-state memory (e.g., flash memory),an optical medium, a magnetic medium, other non-volatile memory (e.g.,erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)), or any suitablecombination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” specificallyexcludes non-statutory signals per se.

The I/O components 1350 include a wide variety of components to receiveinput, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchangeinformation, capture measurements, and so on. In general, it will beappreciated that the I/O components 1350 can include many othercomponents that are not shown in FIG. 13. The I/O components 1350 aregrouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the followingdiscussion, and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various exampleembodiments, the I/O components 1350 include output components 1352 andinput components 1354. The output components 1352 include visualcomponents (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), alight emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), aprojector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g.,speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 1354 include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and force of touches or touch gestures, orother tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In some further example embodiments, the I/O components 1350 includebiometric components 1356, motion components 1358, environmentalcomponents 1360, or position components 1362, among a wide array ofother components. For example, the biometric components 1356 includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1358 includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 1360 include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensor components(e.g., machine olfaction detection sensors, gas detection sensors todetect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measurepollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provideindications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surroundingphysical environment. The position components 1362 include locationsensor components (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receivercomponent), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometersthat detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication can be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1350 may include communication components 1364operable to couple the machine 1300 to a network 1380 or devices 1370via a coupling 1382 and a coupling 1372, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1364 include a network interface component oranother suitable device to interface with the network 1380. In furtherexamples, communication components 1364 include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, near field communication (NFC) components, BLUETOOTH®components (e.g., BLUETOOTH® Low Energy), WI-FI® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1370 may be another machine 1300 or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, in some embodiments, the communication components 1364 detectidentifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. Forexample, the communication components 1364 include radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detectioncomponents, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detecta one-dimensional bar codes such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, multi-dimensional bar codes such as a Quick Response (QR) code,Aztec Code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code,Uniform Commercial Code Reduced Space Symbology (UCC RSS)-2D bar codes,and other optical codes), acoustic detection components (e.g.,microphones to identify tagged audio signals), or any suitablecombination thereof. In addition, a variety of information can bederived via the communication components 1364, such as location viaInternet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via WI-FI® signaltriangulation, location via detecting a BLUETOOTH® or NFC beacon signalthat may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 1380can be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a WI-FI®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 1380 or a portion of the network 1380may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 1382 may bea Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 1382 can implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

In example embodiments, the instructions 1316 are transmitted orreceived over the network 1380 using a transmission medium via a networkinterface device (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components 1364) and utilizing any one of a number ofwell-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)). Similarly, in other example embodiments, the instructions 1316are transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling1372 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1370. The term“transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 1316for execution by the machine 1300, and includes digital or analogcommunications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Furthermore, the machine-readable medium 1338 is non-transitory (inother words, not having any transitory signals) in that it does notembody a propagating signal. However, labeling the machine-readablemedium 1338 “non-transitory”should not be construed to mean that themedium is incapable of movement; the medium 1338 should be considered asbeing transportable from one physical location to another. Additionally,since the machine-readable medium 1338 is tangible, the medium 1338 maybe considered to be a machine-readable device.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: causingdisplay, by a computing system, of a graphical user interface fordesigning at least one visualization; receiving, by the computingsystem, data defining a first visualization control; receiving, by thecomputing system, a least one data model defining at least one datasource related to the first visualization control; receiving, by thecomputing system, at least one calculation module defining calculationdetails for the first visualization control; generating, by thecomputing system, an analytical instance for the at least onevisualization comprising the first visualization control, the at leastone data model, and the at least one calculation module; uploading to aserver system, by the computing system, a specification associated withthe analytical instance; retrieving, from the server system, thespecification and analytical instance; and executing the analyticalinstance, wherein executing the analytical instance comprises:retrieving data from the at least one data source related to thevisualization control; storing the retrieved data in the at least onedata model; performing the calculation details for the firstvisualization control; storing an output of the performed calculationdetails in the at least one data model; and generating the at least onevisualization using the data model.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: causing the at least one visualization to display.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein before causing the display of the graphicaluser interface for designing the at least one visualization, the methodcomprises: retrieving a predefined template for the at least onevisualization; and wherein the graphical user interface displays thepredefined template, and the first visualization control, the at leastone data model, and the at least one calculation module are part of thepredefined template.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:storing the at least one visualization comprising the defined firstvisualization control, the data model, and the calculation module, as atemplate to be accessed by other computing devices.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving data defining a data processingapplication programming interface (API); and wherein the at least onevisualization comprises the first visualization control, the at leastone data model, the at least one calculation module, and the dataprocessing API.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstvisualization control comprises a scalable vector graphics (SVG), aHTML5 visualization, or a hybrid visualization.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the first visualization control is composed of multiplevisual elements comprising at least two of a group comprising: a line, arectangle, a circle, an image, SVG content, HTML control, a button, aslider, and a text input field.
 8. A system comprising: a memory thatstores instructions; and one or more processors configured by theinstructions to perform operations comprising: causing display of agraphical user interface for designing at least one visualization;receiving data defining a first visualization control; receiving a leastone data model defining at least one data source related to the firstvisualization control; receiving at least one calculation moduledefining calculation details for the first visualization control;generating an analytical instance for the at least one visualizationcomprising the first visualization control, the at least one data model,and the at least one calculation module; uploading to a server system aspecification associated with the analytical instance; retrieving, fromthe server system, the specification and analytical instance; andexecuting the analytical instance, wherein executing the analyticalinstance comprises: retrieving data from the at least one data sourcerelated to the visualization control; storing the retrieved data in theat least one data model; performing the calculation details for thefirst visualization control; storing an output of the performedcalculation details in the at least one data model; and generating theat least one visualization using the data model.
 9. The system of claim8, the operations further comprising: causing the at least onevisualization to display.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein beforecausing the display of the graphical user interface for designing the atleast one visualization, the operations comprise: retrieving apredefined template for the at least one visualization; and wherein thegraphical user interface displays the predefined template, and the firstvisualization control, the at least one data model, and the at least onecalculation module are part of the predefined template.
 11. The systemof claim 8, the operations further comprising: storing the at least onevisualization comprising the defined first visualization control, thedata model, and the calculation module, as a template to be accessed byother computing devices.
 12. The system of claim 8, the operationsfurther comprising: receiving data defining a data processingapplication programming interface (API); and wherein the at least onevisualization comprises the first visualization control, the at leastone data model, the at least one calculation module, and the dataprocessing API.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the firstvisualization control comprises a scalable vector graphics (SVG), aHTML5 visualization, or a hybrid visualization.
 14. The system of claim8, wherein the first visualization control is composed of multiplevisual elements comprising at least two of a group comprising: a line, arectangle, a circle, an image, SVG content, HTML control, a button, aslider, and a text input field.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by atleast one processor to cause a computing device to perform operationscomprising: causing display of a graphical user interface for designingat least one visualization; receiving data defining a firstvisualization control; receiving a least one data model defining atleast one data source related to the first visualization control;receiving at least one calculation module defining calculation detailsfor the first visualization control; generating an analytical instancefor the at least one visualization comprising the first visualizationcontrol, the at least one data model, and the at least one calculationmodule; uploading to a server system a specification associated with theanalytical instance; retrieving, from the server system, thespecification and analytical instance; and executing the analyticalinstance, wherein executing the analytical instance comprises:retrieving data from the at least one data source related to thevisualization control; storing the retrieved data in the at least onedata model; performing the calculation details for the firstvisualization control; storing an output of the performed calculationdetails in the at least one data model; and generating the at least onevisualization using the data model.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:causing the at least one visualization to display.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein beforecausing the display of the graphical user interface for designing the atleast one visualization, the operations comprise: retrieving apredefined template for the at least one visualization; and wherein thegraphical user interface displays the predefined template and the firstvisualization control, the at least one data model, and the at least onecalculation module are part of the predefined template.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operationsfurther comprising: storing the at least one visualization comprisingthe defined first visualization control, the data model, and thecalculation module, as a template to be accessed by other computingdevices.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,the operations further comprising: receiving data defining a dataprocessing application programming interface (API); and wherein the atleast one visualization comprises the first visualization control, theat least one data model, the at least one calculation module, and thedata processing API.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the first visualization control is composed ofmultiple visual elements comprising at least two of a group comprising:a line, a rectangle, a circle, an image, scalable vector graphics (SVG)content, HTML control, a button, a slider, and a text input field.